Members of Parliament have voted in favour of the Finance Bill 2024, moving the controversial legislation to its last stage of assent by President William Ruto.
The Bill’s adoption was decided by a majority of 195 votes in favour and 106 against with three abstentions after the legislation passed through the Committee of the House in record time earlier on Tuesday as thousands of protesters stage demonstrations against it in cities and towns across the country.
The Finance Bill has been adopted with amendments, mostly those in favour of the Finance Committee and the Kenya Kwanza administration.
For instance, MPs agreed with proposals to drop controversial taxes on ordinary bread, financial services and motor vehicles but have passed higher tax measures including increasing the rate of the railway development levy at 2.5 percent of customs value and a 3.5 percent for the import declaration fee.
